We have all heard the horror stories about people whose savings for their children’s college educations and their retirement savings have been wiped out because they did not plan for what would happen if they needed long term care.  Increasingly, we are also hearing about similar situations happening to younger families because one or more [...]

Providing or recommending discretionary management, including model portfolios? Be sure you understand SEC Rule 3a-4 under the Investment Company Act of 1940.   Do you manage client assets on a discretionary basis?  Do you refer clients to a third-party manager that has discretion? Do you or an adviser you recommend trade portfolio models for clients [...]

The next time you log in to the IARD to complete an amendment, annual or otherwise, you’ll notice some changes to various questions in the system.  (And if, like us, you had draft amendments and applications in the system, you’ll find that no amount of begging, bribery or tantrum-throwing will resurrect those drafts, which were [...]

One of the most frequent sources of misunderstanding we see among RIA firms is whether the services they provide meet the definition of investment management.  All too often we see firms confusing  “assets under advisement” with regulatory “assets under management.” Regulators are increasingly on the lookout for firms whose reported AUM numbers are inflated, so [...]

Certain private placements and limited offerings may be made without registration, and without requiring specified disclosures, if sales are made only to “accredited investors.” One way individuals may qualify as accredited investors is by having a net worth, alone or together with their spouse, of at least $1 million. The Securities and Exchange Commission recently [...]